FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending July 9, 2010
New York: Ten Russian Agents Plead Guilty and are to be Removed from the United States
Ten individuals pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to serve as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States and will be immediately expelled from the United States. Each of the defendants arrested on June 27, 2010 pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government within the United States without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. Under their plea agreements, the defendants were required to disclose their true identities in court and to forfeit certain assets attributable to the criminal offenses. Full Story
Headquarters: FBI Director Mueller Names Timothy P. Murphy Deputy Director
Director Robert S. Mueller, III named Timothy P. Murphy to be the FBI’s deputy director. Mr. Murphy has served as associate deputy director since January 2008, overseeing the FBI’s personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure. He succeeds John S. Pistole, who left the FBI to serve as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. Full Story
Washington Field: Italian Executive Extradited from Germany to the United States to Face Foreign Bribery Charges
Italian citizen Flavio Ricotti, a former executive of Rancho Santa Margarita, California-based valve company Control Components Inc., was extradited to the United States from Germany. He allegedly participated in a conspiracy to secure contracts by paying bribes to officials of foreign state-owned companies, officers, and employees of foreign and domestic private companies. Ricotti was arrested on Feb. 14, 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany and arrived in the United States on July 2. Full Story
Kansas City: Former Congressman Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Justice, Acting as Unregistered Foreign Agent
Former Congressman and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mark Deli Siljander, of Great Falls, Virginia, pled guilty to obstruction of justice and to acting as an unregistered foreign agent related to his work for an Islamic charity with ties to international terrorism. He pled guilty to one charge contained in an October 2008 federal indictment, and an additional charge involving his work for the Islamic American Relief Agency of Columbia, Missouri. Full Story
Birmingham/Memphis: U.S. Army Major Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements Related to Shipment of Currency from Iraq to the United States
U.S. Army Major Charles E. Sublett, 46, of Huntsville, Alabama, pled guilty to making false statements to a federal agency. Sublett was charged in an indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on January 5, 2010, following his arrest in Huntsville. According to the indictment, Sublett smuggled more than $100,000 in currency, concealed in a shipping package, into the United States from Iraq in January 2005. Full Story
Houston: Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation and Agrees to Pay $240 Million Criminal Penalty
Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement, and construction contracts (EPC). The EPC contracts to build liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island, Nigeria, were valued at more than $6 billion. Full Story
Denver/New York: Charges Unsealed Against Five Alleged Members of al Qaeda Plot to Attack the United States and the United Kingdom
The Justice Department announced charges against five members of an al Qaeda plot to attack targets in the United States and United Kingdom. The charges reveal that the plot against New York’s subway system uncovered in September 2009 involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was directed by senior al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan. The plot was directly related to a scheme by al Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom. Full Story
New Orleans: Mayor and Chief of Police of White Castle, Louisiana Indicted
In an ongoing investigation designated “Operation Blighted Officials,” a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Maurice A. Brown and Mario D. Brown, of White Castle, Louisiana, with 20 counts of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, mail fraud, wire fraud, use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, and forfeiture. If convicted, Maurice Brown, who is the mayor of the Town of White Castle, faces up to 170 years' imprisonment and a $3,250,000 fine. If convicted, Mario Brown, chief of police for the Town of White Castle, faces up to 145 years' imprisonment and a $3,000,000 fine. Full Story
Baltimore: Former Prince George’s County Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Bank Break-In
Former Prince George’s County Police officer Eddie Lee Smith, of Fort Washington, Maryland, pled guilty to breaking into a bank with intent to commit felony bank larceny. Smith met with Earl Blake in Prince George’s County and told Blake he had a job for him. Smith drove Blake in his marked police cruiser to a SunTrust Bank in Temple Hills, Maryland. He provided Blake with a black bag containing an electric grinder/saw and other materials and instructed Blake on how to cut open the ATM safe. Full Story
Louisville: Former Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracy, Burglarizing a Pharmacy
Former Williamsburg police officer Kenneth Bradley Nighbert, of Lexington, Kentucky, admitted in federal court his involvement in the burglary of a Williamsburg pharmacy and that he helped facilitate a long-term prescription pill trafficking conspiracy. Nighbert pled guilty to the charges of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and conspiracy to burglarize a pharmacy.
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